Chinese Bitter Melon (Ku Gua)
日本のゴーヤより苦くない！？翡翠色の丸いイボを持つ「涼しい瓜」
Description
Bitter melon eaten nationwide in Chinese summers. The same plant as Okinawan Goya, but Chinese varieties are pale yellow-green (jade color), with rounded surface warts. Features thicker flesh, milder bitterness, and more juiciness than JP Goya. Loved as a 'Qing Re' (clearing heat) veg to cool the hot summer body.
Classification: Everyone, Ingredient, Vegetable, Bitter Melon, Bitter Gourd, Summer Vegetable, Stir-fry, Clearing Heat, Mild
Shops selling Chinese Bitter Melon (Ku Gua)
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The How to use section below is a general reference, not instructions from the listed shops.
How to use
Ingredients
- Bitter Melon(Fresh)
Instructions
- [Typical Uses]
- [Ku Gua Chao Ji Dan (Bitter Melon Omelet)]: Thinly sliced, salt-rubbed bitter melon fried with fluffy eggs (absolute staple of Chinese summer home cooking).
- [Ku Gua Pai Gu Tang]: Braise in soup with pork spareribs.
Learn more Substitutes, pairings, tips
Key spices
Juicier and crispier than JP Goya、feeling faint sweetness and freshness within the bitterness
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Substitute with JP supermarket 'Goya' (but it's bitterer, so salt-rub thoroughly)
Pairing
Eggs / Pork Spareribs / Soybeans
Trivia
Frying with meat or eggs lets animal fat mildly envelope the bitterness. There's also a stylish appetizer where it's sliced thin, shocked in ice water, and eaten raw with honey/plum sauce (Liangban Ku Gua).
Eating tips & etiquette
Chinese believe 'eating bitter things lowers body heat (Jiang Huo)', so they intentionally eat massive amounts of this on hot days. Bitterness concentrates in the inner white pith, so thoroughly scraping it out with a spoon is the cooking trick.
Allergen
None